WASHINGTON — White House officials failed Wednesday night to quell rising anger and frustration in both parties on Capitol Hill after a senators-only classified briefing about President Obama’s decision to free five Talibanprisoners in return for the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who military officials say walked off his base in Afghanistan five years ago.

...

enator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, exited the briefing visibly angry and said he left with more questions than answers. “I think we can all agree we’re not dealing with a war hero here,” he said.

Senator Kelly Ayotte, Republican of New Hampshire, said she remained concerned about what she called the five “high risk” detainees. “I’m not satisfied with their ability to prevent them from re-engaging in the fight,” she said. “I think that is one of the things that worries me most.”

Senator Mark S. Kirk, Republican of Illinois, said senators pressed the briefers — top officials from the Pentagon, the State Department, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Joint Chiefs of Staff — on whether Mr. Bergdahl deserted in 2009. But the senator said they gave no answer.

An enduring mystery - who among the current crop of Best and Brightest thought that setting up a Rose Garden victory lap with Obama was a good idea? And even though the buck always stops elsewhere, how did Obama's political radar fail to register the problems here?

Comments

That :Brandon Friedman character, has a long file at This Ain.t Hell, as vice Chairman of Vote vets, the organization that couldn't focus on the VA, but was all concerned about renewable fuels, and IVAW, the successor to The one Lurch was a part of

An enduring mystery - who among the current crop of Best and Brightest thought that setting up a Rose Garden victory lap with Obama was a good idea?

Everything thing this administration does starts as a test. They push much further than anyone would ever expect. They let the outrage fester for a while and then, when the "pushback" from the opposition party is done, we still end up with a country changed radically in the direction of the first push.

If we quit assuming that their optics people are making mistakes, what is the most logical conclusion for their actions?

“I think we can all agree we’re not dealing with a war hero here,”
--stuff Joe Manchin, Democrat, said

Marie Harf really needs to give ol' Joe a call. Here he is smearing Bergdahl before all the evidence is in. Manchin didn't even go to the trouble of googling all the conflicting accounts before judging him. He doesn't have the patience to wait for the fact-patterns to be established, most notably by waiting to hear from the best source of what really happened, the guy who desertedwalked offwas forced by conscience to flee the psychopaths he was under.

And if Macnhin won't take her call, Marie should write it up on a poster board, preceded by a hashtag, and post a picture of herself holding it on twitter.

This is the second dissapointing post from Tom M in 5 days. Who set up the Rose Garden? This has been Obummer's show; Obummer did this as soon as he saw the 80% DISapproval polls of VA, and voters holding Obummer responsible.
Obummer's 'political radar?' Dear God Maguire, that's ridiculous. Obummer is a moron, a jackass, 'politcal radar'? he has people for that, and he cut them out and did the Taliban release himself. That is why it is a complete and utter cockup. Very dissapointing from Maguire. Sorry to be so blunt again.

DebinNC-- good point. The Mullahs/shia islamists don't wear neckties, but I thought Obummer was more of a Sunni MB guy. Or maybe it was to be consistent with his old hippey prop Bob Bergdahl? Obummer was making a statement... I have no idea what it was though.

SHEYKHAN, Afghanistan—Taliban forces led by Mohammed Fazl swept through this village on the Shomali plain north of Kabul in 1999 in a scorched-earth offensive that prompted some 300,000 people to flee for their lives.
Fifteen years later, local residents here are responding with fear and dismay to the U.S. release of the notorious commander, along with four other Taliban leaders in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American prisoner of war who was held by the Taliban. The group released a video on Wednesday showing the hurried handover a few days earlier of the American captive, looking gaunt and dazed.

The villages of Shomali were once the orchard of central Afghanistan, and the plain's carefully tended vineyards were famous for their grapes.

When the Taliban seized control of this area from their Northern Alliance rivals in 1999, they systematically demolished entire villages, blowing up houses, burning fields and seeding the land with mines, according to two comprehensive studies of war crimes and atrocities during wars in Afghanistan and human rights reports. Mr. Fazl played a major role in the destruction.

"There was not a single undamaged house or garden," said Masjidi Fatehzada, a shopkeeper in Mir Bacha Kot, the district center. "My entire shop was burned to the ground. There was nothing left."

Khwaja Mohammad, a farmer in the village of Sheykhan, remembered how Mr. Fazl's men took away his son, a civilian, and sent him to Kabul's Pul-e Charkhi prison.
"They jailed him for nearly three years," Mr. Mohammad said. "They took him when he was on his way from the bazaar to buy oil and flour."

...

"Fazl is the case among the five where there is clear evidence that he had command responsibility for forces that committed atrocities," said Patricia Gossman, a researcher with the advocacy group Human Rights Watch who has studied crimes committed during the Afghan civil war. "Shomali is the place where he was on the ground."

Ms. Gossman added that evidence also places Mr. Fazl on the scene of a massacre of civilians in the Yakawlang district of central Bamyan province in January 2001.

Or maybe it was to be consistent with his old hippey prop Bob Bergdahl?

But Bob Bergdahl was wearing a tie, and Mom Bergdahl a nice dress. Was TOTUS there? Maybe BOzo has a no TOTUS, no tie policy. And it was a Saturday, and BOzo "don't dance" when it comes to observing stale traditions his predecessors felt duty bound to follow.

Order up a new Ironiedetektor from Siemens. Yours is on the fritz. You'll never see TM note the lack of an organ grinder for BOzo and the Bobbleheads in blunt terms. Capitalizing Best and Brightest rather than calling them Bobbleheads is about the strongest it gets.

I like it that way. It allows for much more descriptive latitude in comments.

Alright,alright alright it's time to play 'Logical conclusions', the quiz show that pits your patriotic American side against your conniving political side in what can only be described as a zany fun filled half hour that all the family can enjoy,finger on the buzzers ya'll..

Question:Ranging from one to five.......one to five.....how many Taliban detainees would you have given for the release of SGT Bergdahl?

No need to recap the rules of the game as i'm sure regular viewers of this show know that negotiations to have Bergdahl released have been going on for several years now and these 5 detainees have always been what the Taliban wanted. Telling the Taliban to go fuck themselves was never an option because our first priority was to bring our POW home. Remember,we are pulling out of Afghanistan...the war is over for the U.S and leaving an American soldier to die at the hands of the enemy without doing everything in our power to secure his release would have been negligent on the side of the administration. Senators McCain and Ayotte and a whole lot of other folks have been calling for Bergdahl's release even agreeing on national television that a prisoner swap would be acceptable(they were for it before they were against it).

Fingers on the buzzers..........1,2,3,4 or 5...how many Talibanees for Bergdahl.....those are the choices folks.

I just scrolled through hundreds of pics on google after searching for Obama Rose Garden, and I could not spot a single other time Obama made an appearance without a tie.

Yes, so as trivial as it seems, Obama was sending an "I can do whatever I want, whenever I want" message with his tielessness imo. He must appear unfazed and above the fray of the moment at all times, since maintaining his "Mr. Cool" swag/rep is everything to him.

RickB-- I have freely acknowledged here that I Completely LACK an irony/sarcasm detector so I miss a lot. But I did note TomM capping 'Best and Brightest', and I took that to mean that some 20something 'hey Dude' Obummer people cocked this up. I disagree, the evidence here screams that Obummer took this one on himself, and pushed it through his people, very quickly. Result is a complete disaster for america, but fortunately a political disaster for the Dems. I will continue to be handicapped by my lack of irony/sarcasm detector. Helpful hints from you guys will always be welcome.

I just watched O's answer to a Bergdahl question at the press conference with Cameron. I have an upset stomach this morning anyway,so what the heck. He kept referring to the soldiers that go to war as "kids" and "children." He didn't back down,said prisoner exchanges go back to the beginning of the Republic? He's the CinC and he has to make the tough decisions. He said whipped up controversies are par for the course in DC.

DuDa-- this is more like it. Clever and a well framed polemic argument. But no thanks, no reason for us to play the game. Obummer was the most recent contestant, and the show was cancelled after his performance. You see Davey, in the real world where we live, executive decisions most are one chancers, get it right or get it wrong. Obummer got this one wrong on every level (except the Taliban the LOVED the move.) In the military operating in a combat zone, getting it wrong can also get people dead, that's why I respect military leaders. Obummer has only killed the Dem senate, unfortunately, the taliban he let go will kill innocents. Obummer is a disgrace.

My better half, whom is pretty apolitical, is livid about the release of these talibans. She reports the same feeling among the woman she works with and people she see's in the office. And they don't normally talk politics. People understand this as a bad deal, and woeful leadership. SS Obama listing heavily to port.

My thinking is that the more controversies there are, the more likely voters will find something that leads them to vote GOP this fall. If you're not p***ed off about Obamacare, perhaps the VA scandal will push you over to the dark side. If the VA scandal doesn't rock your boat, perhaps the release of the Taliban Dream Team will. And if this doesn't do it, rest assured there will be something else that arises during the next few months.

Necktie -- I am more with debinNC than GMax. Obummer's Narcissism/vanity demand that he appear in public exactly the way he wants. If he were running late for the Rose Garden, and wanted a nectie, he would be just more late whilst he picked the exact necktie he wanted that day.

VA/Bergdahl Platoon-- terrible combo for the dems IMO. As to the VA, they have to say, "We LOVE VETs, we give ANYTHING for them!" meanwhile they have simultaneously trash the platoon mates as Islamophobes and haters. Bad combo for the Dems.

Deb:Yes, so as trivial as it seems, Obama was sending an "I can do whatever I want, whenever I want" message with his tielessness imo. He must appear unfazed and above the fray of the moment at all times, since maintaining his "Mr. Cool" swag/rep is everything to him.

There are those who say I am tirelessly obsessive about these types of things, and then there are those who say I am hopelessly dreamy. I deplore these false choices.

Times Obama wasn't wearing a tie, using the WH Flickr stream...

When he had sushi with Japanese PM Shinzo

Serving food at a food pantry as part of a MLK Jr Day of Service photo op

Touring a US Steel plant

Viewing drought conditions from Marine One, flying near Fresno

Making a phone call to French President Hollande regarding the Ukraine while on vacation in Key Largo

Making a phone call to Vlad from the Oval Office

Taking a selfie with a couple of patrons at a deli in Rochester on his college affordability bus tour

Visiting the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca, NY

Discussing Syria with senior officials in the Oval Office

Kicing a soccer ball during a stop at a high school soccer practice in Tully, NY

Attending the Oregon State v Maryland basketball game (several months before Michelle's brother was sacked by OSU as head coach)

Ok, that takes me through the first 3 pages of flickr photos.

Anyway here are some notable times Obama did wear a tie:

Meeting the Miami Heat

Meeting Bill Nye and Neil de-whatshisname Tyson

Filming that stupid Let's Move video of him and Biden running around the WH

Filming that stupid video for Between the Ferns with Zach Galif**knis (sp?)

Sow what does all that mean? Mostly that some of what "those" say is true.

Here is some anecdotal evidence for the proposition that the Taliban/deserter play is most likely polling even worse than the VA.

My aging M I L who watches CBS News for most of her information, is red in the face angry at Zero for releasing these murdering bastards. Mad enough that it was the first thing after Hello, that she wanted to discuss with MRS Gmax. WHOOPS

So go hang out with Cameron who just got his head handed to him in local elections? I suppose they can commiserate with each other on the paddling one took and the other one will...

Same play, different day. John Doe DA's want proceedings kept under seal to avoid tipping off mysterious "high">http://wispolitics.com/index.Iml?Article=324674">"high profile" targets. Clearly the bicycle-jobs-to-China Dem governor candidate is gonna need a lot of help, and this is the only topic they can put in the ads using all that union money against Walker.

The appeal to Randa's injunction against the John Doe is in the link. Given the 7th Circuit voided most of the WI campaign finance law in another recent ruling, the DAs must have been eating Noonan's brownies.

Anyone associated with this lawlessness should be fired or forced to step down.
Every person in our country illegally should be immediately returned to their country of origin. Immediately. No questions asked or excuses listened to. Run buses & planes 24/7 & ship them out.
Instead of Phoenix, Arizona or San Diego, Calif. as drop-off points, how about Mexico City, or Guatemala City?

President Obama, facing rising bipartisan criticism over his handling of the Taliban-for-Bergdahl prisoner swap, dug in his heels Thursday and declared he would make "absolutely no apologies" for bringing an American soldier home.

Money quote: “I don’t know about John Chisholm, but I call that an aggressive approach, bright lights, denial of counsel and threat of prison for disclosing the nature of the raid, not-withstanding,” the source added.

WeeDavey doesn't quite get what game is being played.
Everyone including WeeDavey himself knows it was a terrible, awful, criminal trade to give five high Taliban commanders including war criminals for one deserting private.

The question therefore is not what would have been a better trade. The questions are; was the trade he made impeachable? How many more people will die as a result of freeing known war criminals? How much more danger are our troops in now of being kidnapped?
And my favorite; how can anyone support this traitorous scum in the WH?

"What is the recourse for us? Who do we call about this lawlessness? What does a citizen do as they watch their federal government break the law?"

Those are the questions I was getting at yesterday: if the president simply ignores the law and the constitution and no one can do anything about, should that be called a "crisis?" Does it even matter what we call it?

As to Barry's claim that this is what all presidents do at the end of all wars (including, bizarrely FDR); as I recall Nazi war criminals were not traded for anyone. They were tried and, where appropriate, executed, something Barry has explicitly refused to do.

Michelle says Jane Fonda is one of her "role models" and the WaPo prints one of the dumbest stories ever written:ww.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/for-rachel-jeantel-travyon-martins-friend-the-journey-continues/2014/06/04/0135d5a2-ec11-11e3-93d2-edd4be1f5d9e_story.html

One last thing, what happened to the "Afghanistan is the good war" smokescreen?

Suddenly it is so immoral deserters are justified in deserting and we just need to turn loose all the guys we were so justifiably and so recently killing with drones, including guys worse than a good many we killed.

These people are incompetent (including the legal sense of the word) AND mendacious AND evil.

From listening to local radio and reading comments in oddball sites, I have decided that to the low information voter, the Taliban and Al Qaeda are one and the same.

LIV's don't do nuance or detail. That speech George Bush gave in 2001 demanding that the Taliban turn over Al Qaeda or they would be attacked must have imprinted on the public's brain, irrespective of political party.

So if those people think Al Qada and Taliban are one and the same, and that Obama freed Al Qaeda, it works for me.

And the more I think about that guy last night saying that "It doesn't matter because after a year we will be gone" I get incensed. We are talking about PEOPLE who will get massacred by these barbarians.

This is a horrible way to act, that those brown people in a country far away" don't matter, because YOU won't be there to take the heat. How cowardly! How callous!

Ignatz-- I have yet to see any Prog proving what Obummer claims about POW trades at the end of wars. As you say in 1945, VEHRMACHT soldiers who surrendered after hostilities ended, or captured as POWs, were evaluated by the US/Allied military. German SOLDIERs were given discharge papers and released to the post-war military and civilian reconstruction authorities. NAZIs, including WaffenSS types were tried by military commissions. Their sentence ranged from being identified as Nazis and prevented post-war employment or government position, jail, or worse. American/Allied POWs were recovered based on the German's unconditional surrender. Same process in the Pacific theater. We didn't trade anything. WTF is Obummer going on about?

"... and release all Begdahl related records to Congress immediately."

NK,

Let's hear from Jim Rhoads as to the probable impact of such a release to the Article 32 investigation and court martial first. I'm all for a hanging but why miss the chance for drawing and quartering? IMO - the Army would be justified in holding records pending the outcome of legal proceedings.

"WeeDavey doesn't quite get what game is being played.
Everyone including WeeDavey himself knows it was a terrible, awful, criminal trade to give five high Taliban commanders including war criminals for one deserting private"

Then how many Taliban commanders would you have swapped for Bergdahl,Ignatius? It's actually a really simple question and it was the basis of the negotiation.

How many for Bergdahl?

Under international law these Taliban detainees going to have to be released eventually(as soon as next year.Given that Bergdahl is innocent until proven guilty,given that there was mounting political pressure on the Whitehouse by Senators Kelly Ayotte and Senator John McCain et al to have Bergdahl released ............given that he's an American soldier and given that it's our policy never to leave a man behind....how many would you have swapped to bring him home?

Those are the questions I was getting at yesterday: if the president simply ignores the law and the constitution and no one can do anything about, should that be called a "crisis?" Does it even matter what we call it?

Probably not. I doubt that the framers ever imagined that a situation like we have now would exist.

RickB-- no doubt. Dempsey's announcement tuesday that there was an 'open' Army investigation was clearly designed to stall Congressional/FOIA inquiries. I was TRYING to be ironic and sarcastic, by pointing out that as Obummer was so proud of the trade and bringing home BoweB he should be anxious to immediately get all facts out to the public. Fail-- for my sarcasm attempt.

We know that Teh Won has a really selfish habit of being late for meetings and speeches to Congress, et cetera; I wonder if the Boy Won-der was late for this event, or if it was important for him to show respect to some fellow travelers, i.e., he showed up on time.

BOzo will be making a speech there tomorrow, and must have seen the Bergdahl deal as an inspiring lead-in to it. The "kids" who stormed those beaches 70 yrs. ago bear no resemblance to BB, but I hope BOzo tries to make that connection at some point. Or maybe he'll "find" beach rocks to stack as an American ship passes behind him, or he'll reposition fallen grave flags as he walks through the memorial cemetery, or ....

He was the jihadi's money man in Afghanistan fighting the Rooskis as described in "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright. The actual fighters considered him as mainly a goof but they were very cash poor so they let him hang around, figuring he'd probably die in a cave which he almost did.

Ditto, Miss Marple. As BOzo TOTUSes his way through his speech touting the bravery of the "kids" who stormed the Normandy beaches, I wish FOX News would show the same "kids" last October storming the World War II Memorial BOzo intentionally tried to keep them out of.

NK, even though I agree with you in how it will come off, for a President not to be at the Normandy beaches would be a terrible insult to the memories of those who fought there and their families. What he should, but surely won't, do is give the speech of his life in honoring them without anything being about him or his cockeyed view of their sacrifice; ie. something completely selfless and appropriate.

My dh and his 90 yo dad were part of a GA Honor Flight group the week before BOzo blocked the memorials and Arlington. I highly recommend the Honor Flight experience for any vet, but especially the dwindling number of WWII and Korea ones.

CaptH-- don't disagre with you, but we all know full well that the speech Obummer will give and his conduct in Normandy will be an abomination. I am biased about this because of my recent trip there- hearing the private letter Theodore Roosevelt Jr wrote to his wife before and during D-day, was thoroughly depressing, he was a serious man, doing deadly serious things at age 56, suffering from punishing arthritis from WWI war wounds and a failing heart, and all he thought about in his letter to his wife were the young men under his command, his family and America. He died a few weeks later during the battle of Normandy of a heart attack; but he got his men ashore safely, helped get them organized in the boccage, and got them ready to win. Comparing men like that to this Obummer POS, makes me physically ill. I admit that bias.

"Under international law these Taliban detainees going to have to be released eventually(as soon as next year"

I heard a former Bush administration guy say that the other day, and I think he's just flat wrong. I think he was referring to the Geneva Convention provision that POWs are to be returned at the cessation of hostilities. These guys aren't POWs, but more important the mere fact that we are abandoning the field does not by any means constitute a cessation of hostilities.

The Taliban are the OPPOSITE of POWs. They are unlawful combatants. They ought to have been tried years ago by military commission-- just like nazi and japanese militarists were in 1945-1946. Scum like Holder delayed that by litigation. Obummer is itching to release the Taliban, and all other Gitmo criminals without ever trying them.

GWB's handling of unlawful AQ and Taliban combatants at Gitmo and otherwise was uniformly in the national interest, and stubbornly defended against the Leftists like Holder. What someone may or may not of has in the last few days changes none of that.

What if there were two deals? BOzo bought Pvt. Sad Sack from the Haqqani for $5 mil in order to check off a box and released five headchoppers against a promise from the Taliban of no embassy roof photos during Operation BOzo Bug Out?

The NYT is sending out a Batsh!t Signal to progs that it's OK for Dem pols to try and distance themselves from the BOzostink enveloping the Democrat Party. The Pvt. Sad Sack affair provides an excellent opportunity.